Henrico School Board renames Quioccasin Middle School field for Lucia Bremer

The Quioccasin Middle School athletic field will carry the name of Lucia Bremer, the 13-year-old QMS student who was murdered last month in a Far West End neighborhood.

The Henrico School Board voted unanimously Thursday to name the field the Lucia Bremer Memorial Field, following a request from QMS principal Melanie Phipps, who in a five-page letter to the board cited comments from 33 individuals and families urging the move. Bremer played soccer for the school and the Richmond Strikers organization. A 14-year-old boy who had attended the school was arrested and charged in connection with her murder.

“This outpouring of love for Lucia shows a community poised and ready to honor a girl who brought so much light to the lives of others,” Phipps wrote, citing impromptu memorials that have honored Bremer’s life during the past month. “Our community is grieving and needs a way to continue to remember and celebrate the legacy of Lucia. As principal, I am proud of how this community has come together to support one another. And as a leader of this community, I stand behind their effort to name the QMS athletic field the Lucia Bremer Memorial Field as a lasting tribute to a student who shined and touched so many of our lives.”

In bringing Phipps’ recommendation to her board colleagues, Tuckahoe District member Marcie Shea became emotional, fighting back tears with her voice shaking as she recalled Bremer, who she knew personally.

Wrote Ashley George: “Lucia was a role model in academics, sports, and social life. I believe her name needs to stand strong for other QMS students to look up to and to hear the wonderful stories about. “

Others said that the field had served as the center of the community’s mourning and healing process and that naming it for Bremer made perfect sense.

“The community has made the field its own memorial since the tragedy,” wrote Jack Pustilnik. “It will ensure that Lucia lives on in our memories though her life was cut way too short.”

Jeremy Kahl wrote to express his desire to see the school retire Bremer’s No. 19 and have the number and a green ribbon follow her name on the field.

“By memorializing her in this way, perhaps she will continue to encourage and inspire adults and children alike to live life to the fullest,” wrote Nicky Keller. “In this way, while she is not with us physically, her ‘light’ will live on.”